


LITTORAL | BINWOO

by HIRAIH3NTAI



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: 4k words of pain in all honesty, Fluff, M/M, baker dongmin, binwoo - Freeform, binwoo in the seventies, bye, fluffy ? kind of ?, i know absolutely nothing about tags, lucky you, originally a quarantine fever dream now on your screen !, sailor moonbin, this took me like a week to write ??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:59:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25636186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HIRAIH3NTAI/pseuds/HIRAIH3NTAI
Summary: just a sunkissed seventies binwoo oneshot ! sailor ! moonbin x baker ! dongmin
Relationships: Lee Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo/Moon Bin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	LITTORAL | BINWOO

It was yet another undoubtedly dull day of work inside the rural village ─ if you can even call it one ─ that Dongmin had been cursed with being part of.

The gentle wind kept hitting the small bakery's windows, making the delicate, golden bell above the door sing like it would every time one would want to taste one of their delectable treats.

The soothing breeze was like a bewitching lullaby for his pale face, the faint taste of salt lingering on his crimson lips as he watered the elegant, colorful roses in front of his store.

He loved mornings like these, mornings in which the otherwise unforgiving daylight would generously turn meek for a couple of hours, just so he could stare at the sea without any bizarre sunburst burning his hazel irises.

When his family and he were ever so graciously given one of the last stores at the southern part of their island, they weren't exactly pleased, yet overtime they grew to love every bit of it, or at least Dongmin did.

His younger sisters had been married long ago, and although working at stores such as these was usually frowned upon when it came to young men such as himself, it was excusable thanks to his case.

His parents would hope and pray everyday ─ alongside with lots of unnecessary intervening with his day to day life ─ that their son would one day finally meet what he would grow to call his wife, co-own the bakery with her and of course, gift them at least a grandchild or two in a form of a silent ' thank you ' for everything they had done for him.

Much to his despair though, said dream simply wasn't possible. He knew why, and he secretly believed that deep down they knew so too and simply didn't wish to admit such an outlandish thing out loud.

So he stuck to what he knew best. Live his humble yet undeniably rewarding, peaceful life without any destruction of some sorts.

And watering his azaleas, of course.

The sunlight was giving all of the oak wood buildings surrounding his own a breathtaking golden tint, as all of the bloomed flowers across the road beamed with life. 

With the corner of his eyes, he caught a faint glimpse of a silhouette sitting up against the old, worn-out wooden fence that was surrounding the dock and a bit of the seashore.

Although he usually had a strict policy when it came to staring at strangers ─ which was to never do it, in case you were wondering ─ he was far too bored to care.

Turning around, he was met with the sight of a man, a sailor of the boat that was right in front of the port, a couple of meters away from Dongmin to be exact.

While the rest of the crew was keeping themselves busy with unloading said boat, he was just so casually reading a book with a dark, hard blue cover, leaning up against the fence with a cigarette between his lips.

That either meant to things, he was in charge or simply slacking off, but it simply didn't matter at that moment.

The distance wasn't that great, but his eyesight was as bad as it gets, so the only description he could really create inside his head was of a man hidden behind his sky-blue hat, hunched over a novel and in all honesty, he was content with that.

He walked back inside with the now empty watering pot in hand. He carefully placed the metallic object inside a drawer under his counter, back to it's original position and then did the same, as he went back to his chair behind the counter.

Opening his nearly ruined journal that he had somehow managed to temporarily keep intact with god knows what, he quickly realized that he had nothing to fill these blank pages with.

He hadn't written for quite a while, and although his fingers were itching with need to bring life to the paper in front of him, his mind was blank.

That feeling didn't last for long though, as his head was brought back down from the clouds by yet another overly excited 'ding!' that permeated the tranquil bakery.

His gaze shot up, only to be met with the same blue-toned silhouette from before.

The stranger have him a welcoming smile, one that made his eyes turn into small crescent moons with glowing stars trapped inside them, sort of as if it was his own place and Dongmin was a friendly guest or even an acquaintance maybe.

He attempted to reciprocate said expression, but failed rather quickly due to how startled he had been by his entrance.

Nonetheless he quickly asked how he could assist the slightly shorter male. At the end of the day, he was yet another potential costumer.

After recommending their rather infamous amongst the area's residents apple pie, the duo went back to silence.

Dongmin recognised the novel from before that was still inside his hands, but failed to catch the title because of how it was being held.

Awkward small-talk with everyone that would visit the bakery was never really his strong suit. Despite all of this, the moment the stranger began to talk, his lips were moving again against his own will, and the words he had spoken were a complete mystery to even him.

His memories of what had just happened were practically non-existent, and the only proof all of this has taken place was the three golden coins that were sitting in front of him on the counter.

That, and his newfound knowledge about the sailor, that went by the name of Moonbin. 

He honestly just hoped he hasn't spewed utter nonsense.

From what he had gathered, he was indeed the supervisor amongst the rest and thus he had a time of free time to roam around and do whatever his heart wished. 

The small ship had originally sailed from an island not that far away from theirs, nearly a straight line away to be exact.

And with that, after complementing the delectable pastry in his hands and thanking Dongmin for the pleasant company he kept him, he vanished, leaving Dongmin with now an abundance of things to write about.

The next time he would see Moonbin again was a couple of weeks later, when the same oddly comforting scent of salt and smoke would enter the room.

He wore a nearly identical attire to the last time the two had met, and uttered yet another enthusiastic greeting paired with his trademark smile.

This time around Dongmin wasn't nearly as hesitant as the last time, and definitely a thousand times more prepared as he had seen the man a few moments prior to his entrance through both the grand windows and the intricately designed glass part of the door.

He got yet another apple pie and then went on a passionate rant about how he couldn't help but miss the taste, not forgetting to emphasize on the lack of fruit or most foods at that inside the ship.

Dongmin's grin grew even larger, if that was humanly possible as the conversation and small-talk continued.

He loved hearing people ramble about things the loved or despised, because regardless of the type of emotion they were experiencing it was always calming to watch them unfold in front of his very eyes.

Moonbin yet again did most of the talking, with Dongmin nodding along or humming in response to almost every word that escaped his lips.

He was sitting on his chair with his head leaning on top of his palm to support itself while staring at the other who soon enough was doing exactly the same action from the other side of the counter.

Truthfully, although Dongmin had tried his absolute hardest to concentrate, not that many things stuck with him this time either.

From what he could recall though, they sat like that for quite some time, with the other one heavily implying that he would love to walk around with him the next time he returned.

That, and of course, the now disturbingly loud sound that pierced through his ears as Jin Moonhak, one of the villagers, son of a nearby butcher if he recalled correctly, had put an end to their comfortable silence by requesting a mere loaf of bread.

As if on cue, Moonbin stood up and left without even bidding him a small goodbye, but he knew it wasn't needed since they had already promised, and by the looks of things, he was one that always fulfilled his words.

And he was proven right.

Like all the other times, Moonbin had yet again opened the door of the small store and cheerfully greeted the other, alongside with reminding him about their promise.

Dongmin couldn't help but smile and nod to signal that he did, in fact, remember.

He continued though, by informing the latter that the last time he was around, he didn't exactly get the chance to confess that he couldn't until the store had closed.

Moonbin hummed in acknowledgment, only to state that he could wait and that this time around he would try his best to not disappear.

Dongmin smiled yet again and quickly began to ask about his latest journey, which by the sound of things, was nothing but dull.

The day passed like a breeze and in a whim of the wind, they were ready to start their 'tour'.

Dongmin started by the areas that were closer to them, not forgetting to state rather loudly like a kid on a school trip that the house above the bakery was his own.

The sky was now ebony black, covered with petit stars, cotton candy clouds and of course, a perfectly crescent moon that resembled the guest's eyes smile just a tad bit too well.

The colorful flowers were practically glowing via the warm light of the of lanterns that were hanging against each and every building.

Moonbin had never spent the night at this place, and he wouldn't have if he hadn't changed their schedule so deservedly but that was something that didn't need to be said.

Most of the things Dongmin showed him weren't of any significant importance, in fact, it was quite the opposite.

In the end, the most intriguing part of the trip was proven to be this impressively large library.

They never set a foot inside that day, but by the time they had reached a small windmill in the woods that Dongmin's family owned, he truly felt as if he had built that damn library himself.

It was now Dongmin's turn to ramble, and his stories couldn't be further away from his own.

When Moonbin talked, he would mostly mention his life at the sea alongside with any stories worth remembering that may have occurred inside that ship.

When Dongmin spoke, it was always about his family and friends, all of the memories he had around each and every area around this tiny village and lastly, some random things about his work that held insignificant importance.

Once they were outside the windmill, the latter had truthfully admitted that he didn't have the keys on him, which led to the duo just sitting together while leaning against the structure with the lantern Dongmin had carried with him in-between the two.

They spent most of the starry night talking about whatever would come to mind, until Moonbin had to bid his final goodbye, saying everyone would be wondering where he had been.

Their interactions were subtle, hands were gentle but none of this did anything to conceal the unforgiving tension in the air.

They left towards opposite directions, this time without any promises on when their next meeting would occur.

Although Dongmin believed it would take quite a while to see the sailor again, mostly due to the awkwardness in the air that night, it was quite the opposite.

Moonbin and his crew started appearing more and more often, to the point were one would mistake them for eternal residents of the village.

And with each time they would come around, he always made sure to pay his friend a visit.

Dark, clouded eyes paired with piercing glares and words filled faint truths trapped within their lies― things were starting to get a bit more serious than Dongmin had intended them to.

Neither of them admitted to this though, or at least they attempted to avoid it.

Illuminated by the lantern's blinding light, outside the familiar windmil the duo would visit a bit to frequently, was when one of final slip-ups took place.

Although blunt and rather touchy, it wasn't the sailor who caused said catastrophe, rather than Dongmin himself, who then proceeded to apologize an ungodly amount of times.

Despite of all the initial attempts at reassurance, upon seeing everything had failed the other was left with no other choice but to reciprocate the mistake, or at least that was what he told himself while closing the distance between the two for the second time that night.

Dongmin never thought the taste of cigarettes and sweets could be so comforting, especially during chilli nights like these, yet here he was. As much as he wished to hate himself for slipping up, for causing such a huge inconvenience to probably everyone he's ever known just by silently admitting a thing or two, he simply couldn't bring himself to care.

Moonbin was married. He had a wife and two kids ; a boy and a younger girl, both just barely below the age of ten and Dongmin hadn't felt worse in quite some time.

After the pair had parted ways on that fateful night, he hadn't heard a singular word of the former, and he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to in all honesty.

In some weird, wicked way, he got it. The weight of other's expectations of you alongside with the his profession was a nearly unbreakable contract, and Moonbin didn't really seem like a confrontational kind of person.

Yet that didn't make it okay, in fact, it made it even more inexcusable in his eyes.

How could a person be well-aware of all of this, yet change their mind half-way through ? Had he been in his shoes he would have acted in a vastly different manner, or at least that was what he claimed, failing to realize his position wasn't that much different.

Dongmin felt torn to say the least, and with the other's frequent visits, it was close to impossible to hold a grudge.

So he pushed all of those thoughts aside and kept going with his days, with or without the younger sailor.

A distinctive, cheerful ' ding ! ' permeated the room once more, and although it had been quite some time, Dongmin knew who to expect.

Their eyes met once more but this time, this time it was so different from the rest it might had been a look-alike of the younger.

He looked shy, scared even and worn-out, as if he had spent quite some time contemplating and overthinking things just like the man in front of him.

Nonetheless he greeted him, a more than relieved expression taking over his features when Dongmin shot him a comforting smile that immediately filled him with warmth, maybe even a bit of underlying reassurance.

' How have you been ? '

' More than good you could say, but rather lonely ' he truthfully responded.

He stayed waiting for Dongmin to close the bakery yet again, and kept him company for the rest of the night too.

And just when he was sure he wasn't going to bring the past events back into life, Moonbin did just that.

The sailor was great when it came to surprises, although he deeply wishes said trait would only surface at light-hearted moments in the future.

Moonbin was the one leading the conversation yet again, as they walked around the dark forest with a lantern in his hands.

The stories this time around were vastly, vastly different from the rest.

He focused on emotions rather than facts, and although fully acknowledging his life at the other side of the sea, the way his words danced with the wind were convincing enough to have Dongmin yet again on his toes.

If he hadn't been convinced beforehand, the wild variation of colorful butterflies inside his stomach and heart would have been enough to cloud his vision.

And boy was he falling fast.

It was rather idiotic of him, really, especially when taking into consideration how many people had been courted far too quickly for the sake of it.

Yet despite acknowledging how fortunate he was, he could only wish to be in their spot, because although forced at least they could openly be with the people they grew to call their beloveds rather than staying trapped in a seemingly endless circle from the very start.

Days kept coming and leaving, and so did the young sailor that wouldn't miss a single chance to cross the ocean and meet his now lover at the other side.

He was slowly getting caught in a sea of lies far greater than the one he was part of, yet he couldn't help but love the feeling of getting lost and drowning, especially since that was the only way he could be truthful.

Dongmin was the only one aware of his lies, willingly letting one wave after the other push him left and right, but he never muttered a singular complain.

That was what he wanted, after all.

Although idiotic, and maybe a tad bit selfish in all honesty, he genuinely couldn't bring himself to regret his actions.

The next month of his life was nothing but delectable nothings made out of the cold breeze surrounding the sea and hazy, blissful mornings under the sunlight's honey blanket.

But the sickening sweetness of those moments was always followed up by a resentful ending, making him seasick to the bitter-sweet taste of sea salt every time the duo would say goodbye.

As if all of this wasn't overwhelmingly enough by itself, his parents had yet again began suggesting that he found himself a spouse, settled down and all of the usual nonsense that could be heard if you were to walk by their open windows the days he hadn't returned before the crack of dawn.

He wasn't quite sure what they were imaging, or to what extent their speculations might have been right, but he wouldn't dare to question it as long as they wouldn't say it themselves.

The last time he had seen the sailor, he had been informed that their ship would be sailing overseas for quite a while for business and what not, and the crew's return to the island was unknown to even themselves.

No matter who much he tried to detach himself from his usual fears and inhibitions and to not worry about the ship's fate, he simply couldn't.

His days were dull, his nights filled with yearning, and all he was left with was a head filled with colorful clouds and useless day dreams of the sailor.

Turning down one by one all of the women his family had attempted to set him up with was a difficult task, but at least it kept his mind off things for a while.

Being nitpicky was one of his greatest traits, which made justifying his reasoning a whole lot easier.

One was too much of a chatterbox, the other was arrogant and don't even get him started on how obnoxious that one seemed. His parents simply couldn't hear the end of it.

The days went by left and right, just like his poor excuses to avoid his absolves, until one day he could finally make the outline of the now infamous to the island ship in the horizon.

His heart was filled with excitement, mind and hands itching chafe, only to be let down one more fateful time.

He watched the sailors exit the boat one by one, yet there was no sight of the one he wished to see.

Confused and stressed but unable to confess to any of the crew, he allowed himself to get lost in the inundate feeling so fear.

So he waited and waited until the next time they would return in hopes that maybe this time, this time he would be there, that maybe this time he was just sick or god knows what else and simply couldn't leave the barge to see him.

And so it happened.

The next time the crew had arrived he didn't even have the time to go seek the other, as Moonbin had practically ran towards that bakery.

The overwhelming combination of relief and anger hit him like a deluge, only to disappear when another wave of happiness took over his senses.

He was far too gone to willingly admit he couldn't stay mad at the other, something which he hadn't dared to conclude until now.

Swift apologies danced through the air almost immediately, followed up shortly after by the news of his wife's great illness at the other side of the salty waters.

Dongmin's heart ached in nothing but jealousy every time he would hear her name, shame rooted deep in his stomach over his fondness at the idea of her leaving.

He hasn't been nothing but selfish lately and although he profoundly wished that would change, he didn't regret his actions one bit.

The sailor spent yet another sunset with him and stayed close until the sun rose again from his intoxicating slumber.

Missing people was never something Dongmin was known to do, yet the following nights were filled with nothing but nostalgia and cold, boney fingers wrapped around himself in hopes of recreating that fuzzy, safe feeling he had grown to adore.

Moonbin's wife passed away shortly after.

The next time the two met they sat at the littoral, feet inside the cold waters of the sea as the former sobbed on his shoulder.

Guilt filled him yet again as the other cried until the early hours of the morning.

He loved her, he really did. He felt so bad for everything but most importantly because he could have never loved her the way she did with him.

'Why did everything have to be so cruel ?' was all he could really make out from Moonbin's ugly cries.

It was as if he had robbed her from an eternity and no matter how had the other attempted to convince him that this wasn't his own doing and that there was certainly nothing he could have ever done to cure her, he simply wouldn't listen.

Their kids were now staying at their grandparents' house since even Sogguk, the oldest of the two wasn't nearly old enough to be working on a ship.

The water became colder, their embrace tighter and although soon enough some of the fishermen would probably walk by them, neither of them could bring himself to care.

All Dongmin could do was wait and hope for the best, most importantly for the well-being of what was left from that family.

Months passed by and slowly, more moments were spent out in the open by the sea rather than hidden inside the dark forest, the lantern always by Dongmin's side rather than in-between the two.

As time went by, the weather grew colder and colder, while the duo remained by the sea, seemingly unbothered.

Dongmin hated the cold, he really did, but the idea of this being the first winter he wouldn't spend alone was enough to bring a small smile on his face.

And thus their story ended, with the pair remaining exactly how they had began ; as two tragic lovers, cursed with the fate of only seeing one another every once a blue moon─

or so they thought.

Years went by, and once it was time for the sailor to retire, he choose to remain at the vivid island rather than return back to his home.

Speculations of all sorts had been going from one pair of lips to another for years now amongst the villagers, yet not once did anyone dare to utter anything out loud.

**Author's Note:**

> most of my full works are on wattpad @HIRAIH3NTAI ! come yell at me on twitter @_8jnk if you'd like & i hope you enjoyed the fic <3


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